Federal court halts Alabama election map that favors Republicans

A three-judge federal court on Tuesday blocked Alabama's plan to use a new congressional district map that would have allowed Republicans to win an additional seat in the House of Representatives.

The AP reported that the justices found that the Republican-backed plan "intentionally discriminated based on race" by including only one district with a majority of black voters. Instead, the court ordered the current map to be upheld, which was drawn by the court in 2024. It includes two districts where the black population represents a majority.

The case was pushed primarily by Evan Milligan, a black voter from Montgomery, along with other black voters in Alabama. The plaintiffs argued that the congressional map drawn by Republicans in 2021 (and the one they attempted to use in 2023) violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by diluting the vote of the black community, which represents about 27% of the state's population, by limiting them to only one majority-black district.

Republican advantage at risk

Alabama currently has seven congressional districts. The current map allows Democrats to compete strongly in two of them. The map that the Republican Party sought to implement would have solidified a 6-1 control in its favor.

The decision represents a setback for Republicans, who had hoped to use the new map in the November midterms to regain the seat currently held by Democrat Shomari Figures and consolidate a key advantage in the South.

The state of Alabama can still appeal the decision to the Supreme Court (SCOTUS).